1852 Cruchley Map of Australia and Polynesia

This is a fine example of George Frederick Cruchley's 1852 map of Australia, New Zealand and the East India Islands. It covers from the Malay Peninsula to New Zealand, including Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia. An interesting map issued just as most of the earth's non-polar shore has been explored. Gone are many of the errors of the previous century with the coastlines accurately rendered. Inland though, much remained confused. Vast stretches of unmapped territory and speculative cartography fill central Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Regions and territories are color coded with elevation rendered by hachures.

In 1840, after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the British annexed New Zealand as part of the Australian colony of New South Wales. However, it separated from New South Wales to become a colony in its own right in 1841. Victoria became an independent colony separate from New South Wales only in July 1851.

Cruchley's General Atlas was unique for its period, employing a vivid color scheme extending even to the oceans, distinctive typography, and various uncommon decorative elements including a peacock feather crown and an imprint medallion, both of which break the printed border.  Though many of the maps in this atlas are copyrighted in 1842, the atlas was first published in 1843 from the Cruchley office at 81 Fleet Street, London, and proving popular went through numerous reissues well into the 1850s.